Residents wonder how much more they can take

September 08, 2004

TAMPA, FLORIDA — First there was Hurricane Charley and the long wait for a plodding Hurricane Frances. Then came the storm, damaged homes and loss of power for who knows how long. Throw in the long lines for water, ice and gasoline, and the prospect of yet another hurricane.

Who wouldn't be stressed beyond belief?

"My nerves can't take this," Emily Marquiss said as she prepared to leave a Red Cross shelter at a Tampa elementary school. "I'm tired. I'm sore. I've got a headache. I mean, what else can go wrong?"

Experts say what Marquiss and others are feeling is normal, considering how monumentally their lives have been disrupted. People are tired, their nerves are frayed, and they are apprehensive about the future. All that can make them tearful, quick-tempered and even physically sick.

"It's exhausting," said Dr. Susan Hamilton, senior associate of disaster mental health for the American Red Cross. "Anxiety is high. They're also anticipating another storm approaching and so they're very fearful for that. They become more vulnerable with these multiple onslaughts."

Storm stress can be dangerous in other ways too. Martin County deputies were looking for a man who got so desperate that he took a gun and shot the lock off a commercial ice chest.

Alma Sparkman drove up to North Fort Pierce on Tuesday to search for food, water and ice. Cars were backed up for miles waiting for the basics, just as residents braced for the possible arrival of Hurricane Ivan.

"It's very, very hot in the house, and I don't want to take my shutters down with Ivan coming," said Sparkman, who has two children. "About the only relief we have is a cold shower ... Right now, the biggest problem is the heat, the crazy heat."

Ivan damages homes in Barbados

Hurricane Ivan blew off roofs and tore down trees Tuesday in Barbados as it churned toward Tobago and Grenada, where hundreds sought shelter just days after Frances swept through the Caribbean.

Ivan raced toward the Windward Islands with sustained winds of 115 m.p.h., making it a Category 3. Forecasters said the storm could become a Category 4 late Tuesday.

A hurricane warning was issued for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada and its dependencies. A hurricane watch was in effect in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. A tropical storm warning was in effect for Martinique, St. Lucia and Barbados, where the island's 280,000 residents had prepared for the worst.

More than 175 homes were damaged throughout Barbados, said Judy Thomas, director of the Central Emergency Relief Organization. No injuries were reported. Two hotels--Atlantis Hotel in rural St. Joseph and Ocean Spray Hotel in south-coast Inch Marlow--lost part of their roofs, authorities said.

It's too early to say if Ivan could threaten Florida, meteorologists said.